In many environments, relatively heavy vests or other torso-covering garments may be used. By way of example only, and not limitation, such garments may be used by outdoors enthusiasts, law enforcement officers or military personnel. The mass of such garments may be increased by the insertion of protective plate structures, by filling pockets, and/or by the attachment of external pouches, ammunition, survival equipment and the like to surface webbing structures which are present on many such garments. By way of example only, external equipment may be attached to surface webbing forming part of a so called “MOLLE” system as will be well known to those of skill in the art. As the mass of the vest or other torso-covering garment is increased, an increased load is placed on the wearer's shoulders. This concentration of load may lead to fatigue during prolonged use or during periods of substantial exertion.
In light of the above, it would be desirable to provide a system to reduce the load concentration at a wearer's shoulders so that the load may be distributed to other muscle groups. By spreading the load to different muscle groups, fatigue may be reduced.